NATIONAL Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader Gary Griffith has warned opposing candidates in the UNC's June 15 internal elections, "Let us not try to win the battle at all costs but end up losing the war as a result of it."
Griffith was also a former police commissioner, captain in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment and national security minister in the UNC-led People's Partnership coalition.
In a Facebook post on May 25, Griffith said, "I am sending this message to front-line politicians on either side of the UNC's upcoming NATEX Internal Election. Forgive me for being out of place, as I am not in your political party, so some will say that a cockroach has no place in fowl business. However, I am humbly sending this recommendation to consider that in any conflict, one must remember that winning the war is the ultimate mission, and winning a battle at the expense of losing the war is not logical."
He warned that "what is said and done in this 15 June internal election can come back to haunt the 15 June victors in the general election, as those same words, comments, and actions would come back to haunt the party and be used by your real opponent in the general election."
Griffith reminded UNC members, "Remember, there is a new day on 16 June, which would start the mission toward the general Election, and that success can be affected by what is done pre-16th June."
He expressed concern about what he described as uncalled for hostility and the most disgusting things being said by UNC members about one another as the internal election campaign has started.
"The intense mud-slinging would make it difficult to easily wash it all away after 15th June."
Griffith reminded UNC members of the collateral damage in past internal elections which has resulted in the party losing subsequent general elections.
"Going back to the worst UNC internal in 2006, which became an election civil war, with (UNC founder Basdeo) Panday's slate winning 12-3 over (Winston) Dookeran's slate. I know the damage because I was one of the three successful candidates on Dookeran's slate. But what took place after was irreparable, as the scuds targeted at both sides caused not just a fracture but amputation, leading to the party being split and the actual political opponent simply strolling into government in 2007. That took three years to mend, but it was still costly due to the damage done by that same internal election."
In 2006, Dookeran split from the UNC to form the Congress of the People (COP). The party failed to win a seat in the 2007 general election but was blamed by the UNC of depriving it of the votes it needed to defeat the PNM which won that election.
The COP joined the UNC as part of the PP which subsequently won the May 24, 2010, defeating the PNM 29-12.
The PP disbanded after its defeat to the PNM in the September 7, 2015.
Griffith warned that the outcome of the UNC internal election could jeopardise the possibility of a strategic alliance between it and any other party to contest next year's general
